


ghostly goodbyes

by greywardenblue



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Gen, Paragon Shepard (Mass Effect), Set during Mass Effect 2, Spacer (Mass Effect)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:21:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23442355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greywardenblue/pseuds/greywardenblue
Summary: Not long before setting out for a whole new world, Alec gets visited by a ghost.
Relationships: Alec Ryder & Female Shepard
Kudos: 9





	ghostly goodbyes

Alec had gotten used to the feeling of doors slammed in his face, calls not being returned, people he used to call friends avoiding him. He told himself it didn’t matter. He had sacrifised so much, sacrifised almost everything, and in just a few weeks, he would leave this entire galaxy behind. It didn’t matter if there was nobody left to say goodbye to.

He certainly didn’t expect a ghost to turn up at his door.

 _Liara told me_ , she says. _Dr. T’Soni, I mean. You exchanged e-mails?_

The twins crowd around her excitedly, asking questions, expressing their surprise. She smiles, but Alec thinks it doesn’t reach her eyes. _Spectre business_ , she says. _Classified, I’m afraid_.

After the twins return to their rooms, Alec says, _you know, I think I have a bottle of whiskey somewhere_ , and she says, _oh God, yes_.

Their relationship is complicated. Alec knows her mother, had known her father too. They both know Anderson, and they are both N7. She is young enough to be his daughter, but she would never let him patronize her.

In the dark and with a bottle between them, the barriers seem to melt and they are nothing but two old friends.

“So, this classified Spectre business,” he starts.

“It’s not Spectre business.” Her voice is barely above the whisper. “Human colonies are disappearing. Being wiped out. The Alliance, the Council… neither of them take it seriously, or giving me the resources to investigate.”

There is a silence.

“So who does?” he asks finally.

Her voice is strained, her face twists into a frown. “I accepted money from some… shady people. But I don’t take orders from them, I swear. I’m just in this to find the colonists and stop the attacks.”

He hums, thinking of a videocall, a series of faces twisting into each other.

“What kind of shady people?”

Silence again, as she considers her words. “Alec… I was dead. Not in a coma, not in… _dead_. Someone poured two years and… lots and lots and lots of credits into rebuilding me. Sometimes…” She swallows hard. “If you cut me, I bleed. But sometimes I don’t know if it’s still me, or a very advanced AI that thinks it’s me.”

“Well,” he says, to buy a few seconds, “I don’t think they make AIs that advanced, so you should be fine.”

She laughs bitterly, and then there’s silence again. In the dark, their eyes don’t meet. He raises the glass to his lips.

“Besides… I know some things about taking money from shady people.”

“Oh?” She clearly expects him to elaborate.

“Yes. And… let’s leave it at that.”

She nods and doesn’t question. Instead, she leans back on the couch and against his side without a word, a purely platonic gesture, like his eldest child would, sometimes. Not often enough.


End file.
